Seattle Press on Line - Budget cutting or a shell game?

Budget cutting or a shell game?

By Trevor Griffey

Jan 17, 2002 -- Cutting State Library brings uncertain benefits

Anti-tax initiatives and a recession, compounded by the events of September 11, have hit Washington State's government hard. Faced with massive revenue shortfalls for 2002, Governor Gary Locke has proposed the elimination of 30 different state programs and significant cuts to additional services.

But in the case of the Washington State Library, which Locke wants to eliminate entirely, some critics wonder whether Locke's budget offers real cuts or whether it's more of a shell game trying to transfer costs that other public agencies will have to pick up.

According to Washington State librarian Nancy Zussy, the Washington State Library system maintains a collection of 3.5 million items. This collection includes a comprehensive collection of statewide periodicals, the sole collection of federal government documents serving Washington and Alaska, and the only complete collection of Washington State government documents.

Locke hasn't proposed destroying or selling the State Library's collection, so presumably some public agency would still, even after the library's elimination, have to assume the costs associated with maintaining the library's holdings. Locke has not planned for, arranged, or offered money to pay for this transition, making the money saved from the Library's elimination seem partly speculative. It's unknown what such a transition would cost the state, and it's unlikely any other agency can assume responsibility for the State Library collection without passing on the costs through tax or fee hikes that Locke himself avoids.

If it goes forward with Locke's proposed budget, Washington would be the only state in the union without a state library.

"It's pretty upsetting," said Mike Eisenberg, dean of the University of Washington's Information School. "There's a whole series of resources that the State Library collects. The question is: If not them, who? God knows we (at the UW) have no space for it here." According to Zussy, Evergreen State College, also considered as a place that could theoretically absorb the State's collection, has said that it doesn't have the resources to cover for the State either.

Then there is the question of the State's 13 branch libraries. The State Library provides library services to 10 state prisons, two mental hospitals, and a school for the developmentally disabled.

"When the Governor came to chat with [the Library] staff, they asked him about this issue," said Zussy of its branch libraries, "and [Locke] told them, 'We intend to do everything we can to keep those [branches] so you will remain employed.' But there's no money in budget for that at DSHS or Corrections, and they're expected to absorb it. The bottom line is that we can't do anything without allocating the money."

Will Locke really push to keep the State Library's branch services? If he does, it makes his full elimination of the Library seem unnecessary and his supposed savings overstated. If he doesn't, the cost to those in Washington's prisons and psychiatric hospitals could be significant.

Libraries are a "major piece of our programming activities for our offenders," says Veltry Johnson, chief information officer in the Department of Corrections.

Without library access, says Chris Fulaas of the Seattle-based Books for Prisoners, a range of self-improvement, educational, vocational training, and entertainment resources would be taken from Washington prisoners, leaving them fewer opportunities for personal development or reform.

Neal Zanavoorn, a librarian in the state's branch Western State Hospital in Steilacoom, says that his branch alone provides services to 30-60 psychiatric patients a day, and offers the only recreational space its nearly 1000 patients have other than lounges.

The State Library is, according to Zussy, "the oldest continually operating state agency" in Washington. Founded in 1853, the Library has grown and changed over the years. The Library once ran 44 branch libraries, including services at institutions for developmentally disabled, veterans homes, corrections camps. Most were cut for financial reasons.

Asked what happened after those services were cut, Zussy responded: "They either don't have any service, or it's just rudimentary volunteer services."

It's unclear whether this will be the fate of the State Library's remaining services, and if so, just how much savings Washington's taxpayers will get to compensate them for the loss.

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